World Sacred Scriptures

The wisdom of Martin Buber

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I n free space there is neither right nor left. In the same way, there is reward and punishment only in this, and not in the Messianic world.

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quote 2788 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.116

W e read in the psalm: "If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in the netherworld, behold, here Thou art." When I consider myself great and think I can touch the sky, I discover that God is the faraway There, and the higner I reach, the farther away he is. But if I make my bed in the depths, if I bow my soul down to the netherworld, there, too, he is with me.

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quote 2787 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.104

T hey say that the proud are reborn as bees. For in his heart the proud man says: "I am a writer, I am a singer, I am a great one at studying." And since what is said of such men is true-that they will not turn to God, not even on the threshold of hell-they are reborn after they die. They are born again as bees that hum and buzz: "I am, I am, I am."

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quote 2786 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.103

T here is no room for God in him who is full of himself.

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quote 2785 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.102

D o not tell yourself in your heart of hearts that you are greater than your neighbor, because you serve God so very fervently. You are no different from the rest of the creatures who were created for the service of God. And how could you be more admirable than the worm? For it serves its Maker with all its power and strength.

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quote 2784 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.101

H e who learns the Torah and is not troubled by it, who sins and forgives himself, who prays because he prayed yesterday-the worst scoundrel is better than he!

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quote 2783 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.96

W hat counts is to restrain the blaze in the hour of desire and let it flow into the hours of prayer and service.

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quote 2782 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.95

R abbi Abraham said:
"I have learned a new form of service from the wars of Frederick, king of Prussia. It is not necessary to approach the enemy in order to attack him. In fleeing from him, it is possible to circumvent him as he advances and fall on him from the rear and force him to surrender. What is needed is not to strike straight at evil but to withdraw to the sources of divine power, and from there to circle around evil, bend it and transform it into its opposite."

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quote 2781 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.95

G od relationship to the wicked may be compared to that of a prince who, besides his magnificent palaces, owns all manner of little houses hidden away in the woods and in villages, and visits them occasionally to hunt or to rest. The dignity of a palace is no greater than that of such a temporary abode, for the two are not alike, and what the lesser accomplishes the greater cannot. It is the same with the righteous man. Though his value and service may be great, he cannot accomplish what the wicked man accomplishes in the hour when he prays or does something to honor God, and God who is watching the worlds of confusion rejoices in him. That is why the righteous man should not consider himself better than the wicked.

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quote 2780 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.92

I n the story of the Creation we read: ". . . And behold, it was very good." But, in the passage where Moses reproves Israel, the verse says: "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil." Where did the evil come from?
Evil too is good. It is the lowest rung of perfect goodness. If you do good deeds, even evil will become good; but if you sin, evil will really become evil.

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quote 2779 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.89

Q uestion: The Talmud says that the child in the womb of his mother looks from one end of the world to the other and knows all the teachings, but that the instant he comes in contact with the air of earth an angel strikes him on the mouth, and he forgets everything. I do not understand why this should be: why first know everything and then forget it?
Answer: A trace is left behind in man through which he can reacquire the knowledge of the world and the teachings, and do God's service.
Question. But why must the angel strike man? If he did not, there would be no evil.
Answer: But if there were no evil, there would be no good, for good is the counterpart of evil.
Everlasting delight is no delight. That is how we must interpret what we are taught: that the creation of the world took place for the good of its creatures. And that is why it is written. "It is not good that the man" - that is to say the primal man God created-"should be alone," that is, without the counter effect and the hindrance of the Evil Inclination, as was the case before the creation of the world. For there is no good unless its counterpart exists. And further on we read: "I will make him a help meet for him" - the fact that evil confronts good gives man the possibility of victory: of rejecting evil and choosing good. Only then does the good exist truly and perfectly.

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quote 2778 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.89

I f you want to raise a man from mud and filth, do not think it is enough to stay on top and reach a helping hand down to him. You must go all the way down yourself, down into mud and filth. Then take hold of him with strong hands and pull him and yourself out into the light.

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quote 2777 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.85

W hat you must do is love your neighbor as yourself. There is no one who knows your many faults better than you! But you love yourself notwithstanding. And so you must love your neighbor, no matter how many faults you see in him.

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quote 2776 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.83

T o love God truly, one must first love man. And if anyone tells you that he loves God and does not love his fellow-man, you will know that, he is lying.

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quote 2775 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.82

W e should also pray for the wicked among the peoples of the world; we should love them too.

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quote 2774 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.82

R abbi Mikhal gave this command to his sons: "Pray for your enemies that all may be well with them. And should you think this is not serving God, rest assured that, more than all our prayers, this love is indeed the service of God."

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quote 2773 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.82

Q uestion: We are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. How can I do this if my neighbor has wronged me?
Answer: You must understand these words rightly. Love your neighbor as something which you yourself are. For all souls are one. Each is a spark from the original soul, and this soul is inherent in all souls, just as your soul is inherent in all the members of your body. It may come to pass that your hand will make a mistake and strike you. But would you then take a stick and chastise your hand because it lacked understanding, and so increase your pain? It is the same if your neighbor, who is of one soul with you, wrongs you because of his lack of understanding. If you punish him, you only hurt yourself.
Question: But if I see a man who is wicked before God, how can I love him?
Answer: Don't you know that the primordial soul came out of the essence of God, and that every human soul is a part of God? And will you have no mercy on man, when you see that one of his holy sparks has been lost in a maze and is almost stifled?

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quote 2772 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.82

M an is like a tree. If you stand in front of a tree and watch it incessantly, to see how it grows, and to see how much it has grown, you will see nothing at all. But tend it at all times, prune the runners and keep it free of beetles and worms, and all in good time-it will come into its growth. It is the same with man: all that is necessary is for him to overcome his obstacles, and he will thrive and grow. But it is not right to examine him hour after hour to see how much has already been added to his stature.

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quote 2771 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.74

W hen a man grows aware of a new way in which to serve God, he should carry it around with him secretly, and without uttering it, for nine months, as though he were pregnant with it, and let others know of it only at the end of that time, as though it were a birth.

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quote 2770 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.74

H e who desires to become aware of the hidden light must lift the feeling of fear up to its source. And he can accomplish this if he judges himself and all he does. For then he sheds all fears and lifts fear that has fallen down. But if he does not judge himself, he will be judged from on high, and this judgment will come upon him in the guise of countless things, and all the things in the world will become messengers of God who carry out the judgment on this man.

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quote 2769 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.73

Q uestion: Why is the sacrifice of Isaac considered so glorious? At that time, our Father Abraham had already reached a high rung of holiness, and so it was no wonder that he immediately did as God asked him!
Answer: When man is tried, all the rungs and all holiness are taken from him. Stripped of everything he has attained, he stands face to face with God who is putting him to the test.

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quote 2768 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.72

N o limits are set to the ascent of man, and to each and everyone the highest stands open. Here it is only your personal choice that decides.

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quote 2767 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.71

G od said to Abraham: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee." God says to man: "First, get you out of your country, that means the dimness you have inflicted on yourself. Then out of your birthplace, that means out of the dimness your mother inflicted on you. After that, out of the house of your father, that means out of the dimness your father inflicted on you. Only then will you be able to go to the land that I will show you."

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quote 2766 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.70

T he world is a spinning die, and everything turns and changes: man is turned into angel, and angel into man, and the head into the foot, and the foot into the head. Thus all things turn and spin and change, this into that, and that into this, the topmost to the undermost, and the undermost to the topmost. For at the root all is one, and salvation inheres in the change and return of things.

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quote 2765 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.69

I shall teach you the best way to say Torah. You must cease to be aware of yourselves. You must be nothing but an ear that hears what the universe of the word is constantly saying within you. The moment you start hearing what you yourself are saying, YOU must stop.

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quote 2764 | Martin Buber
Martin Buber’s ten rungs, collected Hassidic saying, p.66

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On other page(s): History and calligraphy of Martin Buber

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